Open Access

Integrated Optical Power Splitter With

Continuously Adjustable Power Splitting Ratio
Volume 12, Number 6, December 2020

Shasha Liao
Hang Bao
Tiantian Zhang
Jiwei Liu
Xi Liao, Member, IEEE
Li Liu

DOI: 10.1109/JPHOT.2020.3038379
IEEE Photonics Journal Integrated Optical Power Splitter

Integrated Optical Power Splitter With

Continuously Adjustable Power
Splitting Ratio
Shasha Liao ,1,2 Hang Bao,1 Tiantian Zhang,1 Jiwei Liu,1
Xi Liao ,1 Member, IEEE, and Li Liu 3

1 Chongqing Key Laboratory of Mobile Communications Technology, Engineering Research

Center of Mobile Communications of the Ministry of Education, School of Communication
and Information Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications,
Chongqing 400065, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
3 School of Automation, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China

DOI:10.1109/JPHOT.2020.3038379
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0
License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Manuscript received September 23, 2020; revised October 27, 2020; accepted November 11, 2020.
Date of publication November 16, 2020; date of current version December 9, 2020. This work was sup-
ported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 61801063, 61801062,
and 61805215, in part by the Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal
Education Commission under Grant KJQN201800605, and in part by the Natural Science Foundation
of Chongqing (cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0597). Corresponding author: Li Liu (e-mail: liliu@cug.edu.cn).

Abstract: Optical power splitter (OPS) as one of the basic elements in photonic integrated
circuits (PIC) is widely used in many fields. The OPS with continuously adjustable power
splitting ratio (PSR) can improve the flexibility of PIC and also simplify the PIC system. We
propose and demonstrate an integrated OPS based on silicon-on-insulator. Our scheme
combines several common structures such as 2 × 2 multimode interference coupler,
waveguide grating and slot. The PSR of the OPS can be continuously adjustable by tuning
the wavelength of the input signal or the voltages applied to the electrodes on the chip.
The maximum tunable range of the PSR is from 28.2 dB to −1.7 dB when no voltages are
applied to the electrodes and the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1542.62 nm to
1547.94 nm. And the maximum and minimum tunable ranges of the PSR are 35 dB and
0.4 dB, respectively, when the power consumption of the micro-heaters varies from 0 to
27 mW. So, our OPS can be both temperature-sensitive and temperature-insensitive. Our
scheme has the advantages of compact structure and high flexibility, and it can be widely
used in optical switching, signal channel division and power distribution.

Index Terms: Optical power splitting, optical signal processing, integrated optics.

1. Introduction
In recent years, photonic integrated circuits (PICs) has attracted more and more attentions because
of the increasing demand of signal bandwidth and message transmission rate. Optical power splitter
(OPS) is one of the basic elements in PICs and has been used in plenty of fields, such as signal
detection [1], signal feedback [2], filter [3], [4], power distribution [5], [6], and so on. Although
the uniform OPS has been researched comprehensively and well-thought-out, non-uniform OPS,
or tunable OPS is needed in some specific application scenarios which require unequal power
splitting ratio (PSR), such as: power equalizers [7], ring lasers [8], [9], optical switch [10] and
modulators [11]. The proposed schemes of tunable OPS can be divided into three classes: direction

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IEEE Photonics Journal Integrated Optical Power Splitter

coupler (DC) [12], [13], Y junction [14], [15] and multimode interference coupler (MMI) [16], [17].
Two schemes based on DC structure have been proposed in [12] and [13]. By adjusting the gaps
between the middle waveguide and the two parallel outer waveguides in [12], the PSR of the OPS
can vary from −9.55 dB to 9.55 dB. And the PSR can be tuned from 0 dB to 9.55 dB by controlling
the shifts of the two outer waveguides of the three-waveguide system in [13]. Comparing with
DC schemes, the schemes based on Y junction are more compact. In [14], an OPS based on
a parameterized Y junction has been proposed in which the shape of the Y junction is defined
by a geometrical function and an arbitrary PSR can be achieved by modifying the independent
variables within the functions. A scheme based on silicon nitride tri-layer vertical Y-junction has
been proposed in [18], the PSR can vary arbitrarily from −10 dB to 10 dB by tuning the gaps
between the layers. MMI is the most widely used structure in OPS thanks to its advantages,
such as: large fabrication tolerance, broad bandwidth and compact size. In [19], an OPS based
on reverse-designed MMI has been proposed. By modifying the refractive index distribution of the
multimode waveguide in MMI, the PSR can vary from 0 dB to 4.8 dB. An OPS based on cascade
MMIs has been proposed in [20], and the PSR can vary from −12.8 dB to 12.8 dB by adjusting
the numbers and lengths of the phase shifters between the cascaded MMIs. And in[16], a tunable
OPS scheme based on an asymmetric 1 × 2 MMI has been proposed. By cutting off different size
of one corner of the multimode waveguide in MMI, the PSR can be tuned from 1 dB to 47 dB.
These above schemes have the advantages of compact structure, large operation bandwidth and
low loss. However, the PSRs can be tuned only by changing the physical structures or sizes. In
[21], a real-time tunable OPS scheme based on a 2 × 2 MMI has been proposed. The PSR can be
tuned by the nonlinear effect in the MMI, but this scheme requires high power input signal and it is
sensitive to temperature changes. Thermal /electrical controlled micro-rings [22], [23] are also the
optional schemes to achieve tunable OPSs. Nevertheless, those schemes have narrow operation
bandwidths and small tunable ranges. Adding polymers onto micro-rings can extend the tunable
range of PSR effectively, but it means extra complexity of the fabrication process.
In this letter, we propose and demonstrate a tunable OPS scheme that can realize continuously
adjustable PSR with large tunable range. Our scheme is based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI).
Assisted by the waveguide grating and the slot fabricated in the uniform 2 × 2 MMI, the PSR
of the OPS is continuously adjustable. The tunable range of the PRS is from 28.2 dB to −1.7 dB
when tuning the wavelength of the input signal from 1542.62 nm to 1547.94 nm. Furthermore,
we fabricate micro-heaters on the waveguide grating, so the PSR can also vary by controlling the
voltages applied onto the thermo-optic micro-heaters. The maximum tunable range of PSR is from
2 dB to 37 dB and the minimum tunable range of PSR is from −8.7 dB to −9.1 dB. Our scheme
has the advantages of compact structure and high flexibility, and it can be widely used in optical
switching, signal channel division, power distribution and other fields of communication and signal
processing.

2. Principle and Simulation

2.1 OPS Based on Waveguide Grating Assisted MMI (WG-MMI)
It is well known that the power distribution of MMI is based on the self-imaging effect, which is a
phenomenon that the input signal reappear in the propagating direction periodically. By selecting
suitable width and length of the multimode waveguide of MMI, the power of the input signal can
be equally divided into two or more paths. The condition of self-imaging effect will be broken if
the multimode waveguide of MMI is asymmetric [24], and the output power of the MMI should be
unequal. So, we fabricate a waveguide grating, which is sensitive to the wavelength of the input
signal, on one side of the multimode waveguide of the 2 × 2 MMI to achieve a tunable OPS. The
schematic diagram of the tunable OPS based on WG-MMI is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1(a) shows the
3D diagram of the OPS based on WG-MMI. A micro-heater is fabricated on the top of waveguide
grating as an alternative way to tune the PSR. Micro-heater is widely used in photonic integrated

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Fig. 1. (a) The 3D diagram of the OPS based on WG-MMI and (b) the top view of the OPS based
on WG-MMI and related structure parameters (w0 : the width of the waveguide, wm : the width of the
multimode waveguide, lm : the length of the multimode waveguide, w1 : the width of the input/output
taper, l1 : the length of the input/output tapers, : the period of the grating, w: the width of the grating).

circuits because of its advantages of low cost and simple fabrication process. And comparing
with electro-optic effect, common micro-heater is inferior in response speed and tuning efficiency.
But new type of thermal-optical modulators such as graphene micro-heaters [25] can effectively
compensate for the shortcomings. The top view of the OPS based on WG-MMI and some related
structure parameters are shown in Fig. 1(b). Our scheme is based on SOI with 2 μm thickness
of buried oxygen layer and 220 nm thickness of upper silicon layer. The values of the structure
parameters of the 2 × 2 MMI in the OPS are from our previous works. The width (w0 ) and the
height (h) of the waveguide are 500 nm and 220 nm, respectively. The width (wm ) and the length
(lm ) of the multimode waveguide are 4 μm and 56.5 μm, respectively. And the width (w1 ) and the
length (l1 ) of input/output tapers are 1.9 μm and 30 μm, respectively. The gap (g) between the two
output ports is 2.068 μm.
By adding a uniform waveguide grating structure onto one side of the multimode waveguide of
the MMI, the output power of Port out1 and Port out2 will vary when the values of the structure
parameters of the waveguide grating are changed. Assuming the length of grating period is , the
width of the grating is w and the number of grating periods is N. We simulate the OPS based
on WG-MMI and optimize above structure parameters to obtain maximum tunable range of PSR
when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1545 nm to 1555 nm. Two optional values of
the structure parameters of the waveguide grating are:  1 w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm and N =
188;  2 w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm and N = 188. The simulated transmission spectra of these two
OPSs are shown in Fig. 2 (a) and 2(b) when the input signal is emitted from Port in1. Fig. 2(a)
shows the transmission spectra of Port out1 (blue solid line) and Port out2 (red solid line) when
w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm and N = 188. And the output power of each output port varies with
the wavelength of the input signal. The PSR (output power of Port out1divided by output power
of Port out2) varies from −7.1 dB to 6.5 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from
1548.22 nm to 1555.00 nm. The transmission spectra of Port out1 (blue solid line) and Port out2
(red solid line) when w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm and N = 188 are shown in Fig. 2(b). The PSR
varies from −4.9 dB to 5 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1547.68 nm
to 1553.65 nm. It is obviously that the PSR is sensitive to the wavelength of the input signal by
adding a waveguide grating onto the MMI. Fig. 2(c) and Fig. 2(d) show the simulation results of the
PSRs varying with the temperature of micro-heaters in the OPSs whose structure parameters are
the same with the ones shown in Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 2(b), respectively. In Fig. 2(c), the maximum
variation of the PSR is −3.7 dB when the temperature varies 50°C and the wavelength of the input
signal is 1550.40 nm. And the temperature tuning coefficient (the variation of the PSR divided
by the change of the temperature) is −0.07 dB/°C. The maximum variation of the PSR is −5.4 dB
when the temperature varies 50°C and the wavelength of the input signal is 1549.73 nm in Fig. 2(d).
The temperature tuning coefficient is −0.11 dB/°C. It is obviously that varying the temperature of
the OPS is an alternative way to tune the PSR.

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Fig. 2. The simulated transmission spectra of the OPS based on WG-MMI with (a)w = 1.4 μm,  =
0.3 μm, N = 188 and (b) w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188. The simulation results of the PSRs
varying with the temperature of micro-heaters in the OPS based on WG-MMI with (c)w = 1.4 μm,
 = 0.3 μm, N = 188 and (d) w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, when the input signal is emitted
from port in1.

Fig. 3. (a) The 3D diagram of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI and (b) the top view of the OPS based
on WG-Slot-MMI and related structure parameters (q: the length between the left edge of the slot and
the left edge of the multimode waveguide, ls : the length of the slot, ws : the width of the slot).

2.2 OPS Based on WG-MMI With Slot (WG-Slot-MMI)

The simulation results in Section 2.1 show that tunable PSR can be obtained by breaking the
symmetry of MMI. And adding a wavelength-sensitive structure to the multimode waveguide of
2 × 2 MMI is an optional method. In order to extend the tunable range of PSR, we further fabricate
a slot in the multimode waveguide of the OPS. By adding the slot, the multimode waveguide will
be divided into two waveguides. And the mutual coupling factor between the two waveguides is
determined by the structure parameters of slot and the wavelength of the input signal, so the slot
in the multimode waveguide of the MMI is also a wavelength-sensitive structure. Fig. 3 shows the
schematic diagram of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI. The 3D diagram of the OPS based on
WG-Slot-MMI is shown in Fig. 3(a) and the top view of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI and some
related structure parameters are shown in Fig. 3(b). The slot is in the middle of the multimode
waveguide of the MMI, i.e., the distances from left edge of the slot to Port in1 and Port in2
are equal. Assuming the length between the left edge of the slot and the left edge of the multimode
waveguide is q, the length and the width of the slot are ls and ws , respectively. The tunable range
of PSR can extend vastly by selecting appropriate q, ls and ws .

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Fig. 4. The simulated transmission spectra of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with (a) w = 1.4 μm,
=0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm and (b) w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N
= 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm, The simulation results of the PSRs varying with the
temperature of micro-heaters in the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with (c) w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm,
N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm and (d) w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0
μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm, when the input signal is emitted from port in1.

Similarly, we optimize the structure parameters of the slot and two groups of optional values are
obtained: 3 w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm and ws = 0.68 μm;  4
w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm and ws = 0.64 μm. The simulated
transmission spectra of these two OPSs are shown in Fig. 4(a) and 4(b) when the input signal is
emitted from Port in1. Fig. 4(a) shows the transmission spectra of Port out1 (blue solid line) and
Port out2 (red solid line) when w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm and ws
= 0.68 μm. The PSR varies from 15.7 dB to −2.9 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies
from 1547.96 nm to 1555.00 nm. The transmission spectra of Port out1 (blue solid line) and Port
out2 (red solid line) when w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm and
ws = 0.64 μm are shown in Fig. 4(b). The PSR varies from 28.1 dB to −0.6 dB when the
wavelength of the input signal varies from 1546.70 nm to 1551.96 nm. Fig. 4(c) and Fig. 4(d)
show the simulation results of the PSRs varying with the temperature of micro-heaters in the
OPSs whose structure parameters are the same with the ones shown in Fig. 4(a) and Fig. 4(b),
respectively. In Fig. 4(c), the maximum variation of the PSR is 5.8 dB when the temperature varies
50°C and the wavelength of the input signal is 1549.19 nm. The temperature tuning coefficient is
−0.12 dB/°C. The maximum variation of the PSR is 19.3 dB when the temperature varies 50°C and
the wavelength of the input signal is 1549.00 nm in Fig. 4(d). The temperature tuning coefficient is
0.39 dB/°C.
We further simulate the OPSs of above structure parameters when the input signal is emitted
from Port in2. The simulated transmission spectra are shown in Fig. 5(a) and 5(b). Fig. 5(a) shows
the transmission spectra of Port out1 (blue solid line) and Port out2 (red solid line) when w =
1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm and ws = 0.68 μm. The PSR varies from
−14 dB to −1.5 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1551.55 nm to 1553.85 nm.
The transmission spectra of Port out1 (blue solid line) and Port out2 (red solid line) when w =
3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm and ws = 0.64 μm are shown in Fig. 5(b).
The PSR varies from −7.9 dB to −5.3 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from
1545.00 nm to 1547.22 nm. Fig. 5(c) and Fig. 5(d) show the simulation results of the PSRs varying

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Fig. 5. The simulated transmission spectra of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with (a) w = 1.4 μm,
 = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm and (b) w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm,
N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm.The simulation results of the PSRs varying with the
temperature of micro-heaters in the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with (c) w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm,
N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm and (d) w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0
μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm, when the input signal is emitted from port in2.

with the temperature of micro-heaters in the OPSs whose structure parameters are the same with
the ones shown in Fig. 5(a) and Fig. 5(b), respectively. In Fig. 5(c), the maximum variation of the
PSR is −10.3 dB when the temperature varies 50°C and the wavelength of the input signal is
1553.37 nm, the temperature tuning coefficient is −0.21 dB/°C. The maximum variation of the PSR
is −4.6 dB when the temperature varies 50°C and the wavelength of the input signal is 1547.46 nm
in Fig. 5(d), the temperature tuning coefficient is −0.09 dB/°C. Although comparing with the tunable
range of PSR when the input signal is emitted from Port in1, the tunable range of PSR is relatively
small when the input signal is emitted from Port in2, it expands the option of PSR effectively.

3. Fabrication and Performance Characterization

3.1 Device Fabrication
The metallurgical microscopy image of the fabricated OPSs based on WG-Slot-MMI is shown in
Fig. 6(a). In order to tune the PSR when the wavelength of the input signal is stable, we also
fabricate micro-heaters on the waveguide gratings of the OPSs. By adjusting the voltages applied
to the electrodes, the refractive indexes of the waveguide gratings vary with the temperature which
results in the variation of PSR. The OPSs are fabricated on an SOI wafer with 220 nm thick top
silicon layer and 2 μm thick buried oxide (BOX). The height of the waveguide is 220 nm and the
bending radius of the waveguides are 20 μm. The footprint of our OPS is about 94.1 × 2006.5
μm2 (including the grating couplers and electrodes), while the size of the core structure is less
than 1000 μm2 . Grating couplers etching 70 nm are used as input and output ports. A single step
of E-beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) is used to
fabricate the grating couplers and silicon waveguides, successively. Then a 1 μm thick silica is
deposited on the sample. Finally, heater patterns (Ti) are formed by e-beam lithography followed
by metal deposition and lift-off. The fiber-to-fiber loss of our chip is about 15 dB when there is no
voltage applied to the electrodes. The insertion loss can be effectively reduced by introducing an
aluminum mirror by flip-bonding process [26].

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Fig. 6. The metallurgical microscope images of OPSs based on WG-Slot-MMI :(a) whole diagram,
details of OPS with (b) w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm, the
measured ls and ws are 22.89 μm and 0.72 μm, respectively; (c) w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188,
q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm, the measured ls and ws are 22.36 μm and 0.67 μm, respectively

Fig. 6(b) shows the detail of OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm,
N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm, and the waveguide grating is covered by the
micro-heaters. The lengths and widths of the fabricated slot and the designed slot have slight
difference because of the fabrication error. The length and width of the fabricated slot are 22.89
μm and 0.72 μm, respectively. The detail of OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w = 1.4 μm,  =
0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm is shown in Fig. 6(c), and the length and
width of the fabricated slot are 22.36 μm and 0.67 μm, respectively.

3.2 The OPS With w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm
In order to characterize our OPSs, light from a broadband optical source is coupled to the silicon
chip with a vertical grating coupler. Because of the polarization sensitivity of the couplers and
waveguides, a polarization controller (PC) is placed before the input grating coupler. The electrodes
are contacted by probe pins. Variable voltages generated from independent power supplies are
applied to different pins. Finally, the output spectrum is measured by a high resolution (0.02 nm)
optical spectrum analyzer (YOKOGAWA AQ6370C).
Fig. 7(a) shows the measured transmission spectra of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with
w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm when the input
signal is emitted from Port in1 and no voltages are applied to the electrodes. The tunable range
of the wavelength of the input signal is from 1530 nm to 1570 nm. The output power of Port out1
varies from −30 dB to −5 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1542.60 nm to
1548.34 nm. And that of Port out2 varies from −2 dB to −7 dB when the wavelength of the input
signal varies from 1530.00 nm to 1547.74 nm, respectively. The shape of transmission spectrum
of Port out2 is similar with the simulated result, while the minimum output power of Port out1
is much smaller than the simulation result and is blue-shifted about 5.3 nm. These differences
are caused by the fabrication error and the extension of the wavelength of the input signal. The
tunable range of the PSR varies from 28.2 dB to −1.7 dB when the wavelength of the input signal
varies from 1542.62 nm to 1547.94 nm. The insertion loss of the OPS shows a slight wavelength
dependence because the slot and the waveguide grating are both wavelength-sensitive structures.

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Fig. 7. (a)The measured transmission spectra of OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w = 1.4 μm, 
= 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm when the input signal is emitted from
port in1, (b) the PSR varies with the power consumption of the micro-heaters, the PSR varies with the
power consumption of the micro-heaters when the wavelengths of the input signal are (c) 1547.94 nm
and 1554.14 nm, and (d) 1539.04 nm and 1550.27 nm.

The distribution of the optical field in the multi-mode waveguide region of MMI changes with
wavelength of the input signal, so the insertion loss varies. The whole insertion loss varies from 0.5
dB to 2.5 dB when the wavelength varies from 1530 nm to 1570 nm. The variation of insertion loss
is acceptable in practical application.
Fig. 7(b) shows the measured PSR varies with the power consumption of the micro-heaters.
When the temperature of the waveguide grating is tuned, the reflected wavelength varies and
the distribution of the optical field in the multi-mode waveguide region of MMI changes, which
results in the variation of PSR. So the curve of the PSR is red-shifted with the increasing of the
power consumption of the micro-heaters. The curve of the PSR is red-shifted about 5.3 nm in
Fig. 7(b) when the power consumption of the micro-heaters increases from 0 to 27 mW. As shown
in Fig. 7(a), PSR varies rapidly in some specific wavelength ranges (1542 nm∼1548 nm) and
remains unchanged in other wavelength ranges (1530 nm∼1535 nm) when no voltage is applied
to the electrodes. So the PSR should be temperature-sensitive and temperature-insensitive in
different wavelength ranges. We choose several typical variation of the PSRs and plot them in
Fig. 7(c) and 7(d). The blue dots in Fig. 7(c) show the PSR varying with the power consumption
when the wavelength of the input signal is 1547.94 nm. The PSR varies from −1.7 dB to 23.5 dB
while the power consumption of the micro-heaters increases from 0 to 27 mW, and that is the
maximum tunable range of PSR in this condition. The thermal tuning coefficient (the variation
of the PSR divided by the power consumption) of the PSR is 0.93 dB/mW, we don’t have the
experimental equipment to measure the exact temperature of the micro-heaters. So we can’t
calculate the temperature tuning coefficient of the measured results. Besides, the wavelength range
of the input signal is larger than the simulation. But the variation trends of the PSRs are similar as
the maximum PSRs are both red-shifted when the temperature of the OPS rises. The measured
maximum variation of PSR is blue-shifted and larger than the simulated result because of the
fabrication error and the extension of the wavelength range of the input signal. The red triangles

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Fig. 8. (a)The measured transmission spectra of OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w = 1.4 μm, 
= 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm when the input signal is emitted from
port in2, (b) the PSR varies with the power consumption of the micro-heaters, the PSR varies with the
power consumption of the micro-heaters when the wavelengths of the input signal are (c) 1546.11 nm
and 1550.30 nm, and (d) 1537.48 nm and 1555.35 nm.

in Fig. 7(c) show the PSR varying with the power consumption when the wavelength of the input
signal is 1554.14 nm, the PSR varies from 20.9 dB to −0.5 dB and the thermal tuning coefficient
of the PSR is −0.79 dB/mW. The fitting curves are also shown in Fig. 7(c) in blue solid line and
red solid line. As shown in Fig. 7(c), the PSR of the OPS can be tuned rapidly by the controlling
power consumption of the micro-heaters. So, our scheme is a temperature-sensitive OPS at these
wavelengths of the input signal. Fig. 7(d) shows the PSRs varying with the power consumption
of the micro-heaters when the wavelength of the input signal are 1531.11 nm (blue dots) and
1532.92 nm (red triangles), respectively. The fitting curves are also shown in Fig. 7(d) in blue solid
line and red solid line. The variations of the PSRs are less than 1.3 dB and 1.6 dB, respectively. So
our OPS is temperature-insensitive in this wavelength range.
Then we measure the transmission spectra of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w =
1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm when the input signal is
emitted from Port in2. Fig. 8(a) shows the transmission spectra of Port out1 and Port out2 when
no voltages are applied to the electrodes. The output power of Port out1 varies from −13.4 dB to
−1.2 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1548.34 nm to 1558.58 nm. And that
of Port out2 varies from −26.1 dB to −8.5 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from
1546.11 nm to 1565.35 nm. The tunable range of the PSR is from −16 dB to −6.3 dB when the
wavelength of the input signal varies from 1546.11 nm to 1567.65 nm. The whole insertion loss
varies from 2 dB to 12 dB when the wavelength varies from 1538 nm to 1555 nm. The variation
of the insertion loss is much larger because Port in2 is closer to the waveguide grating, so the
distribution of the optical filed changes much more rapidly. The influence of the difference of the
insertion loss can be eliminated by pre-compensation in this wavelength range. The insertion loss
only varies from 0.9 dB to 2.6 dB in other wavelength ranges. Fig. 8(b) shows the measured PSR
varies with the power consumption of the micro-heaters. The spectrum of the PSR is red-shifted
about 4.2 nm while the power consumption of the micro-heaters increases from 0 to 27 mW.

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Fig. 9. (a)The measured transmission spectra of OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w = 3.8 μm, 
= 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm when the input signal is emitted from
port in1, (b) the PSR varies with the power consumption of the micro-heaters, the PSR varies with the
power consumption of the micro-heaters when the wavelengths of the input signal are (c) 1549.52 nm
and 1565.28 nm, and (d) 1543.15 nm and 1570.00 nm.

Similarly, we choose four wavelengths at which the PSRs of OPSs are temperature-sensitive or
temperature-insensitive. Fig. 8(c) shows the PSRs of OPSs which are temperature-sensitive. The
blue dots show the PSR varying with the power consumption when the wavelength of the input
signal is 1546.11 nm, the PSR varies from −16.2 dB to −8.4 dB while the power consumption
of the micro-heaters increases from 0.5 to 11 mW and the thermal tuning coefficient of the PSR
is 0.74 dB/mW. The red triangles show the PSR varying with the power consumption when the
wavelength of the input signal is 1530.30 nm, the PSR varies from −7.2 dB to −14.7 dB and the
thermal tuning coefficient of the PSR is −0.28 dB/mW. The fitting curves are also shown in Fig. 8(c)
in blue solid line and red solid line. Fig. 8(d) shows the PSRs which are temperature-insensitive.
The PSRs varying with the power consumption of the micro-heaters are shown in blue dots and red
triangles when the wavelengths of the input signal are 1562.74 nm and 1532.99 nm, respectively.
The fitting curves are also shown in Fig. 8(d) in blue solid line and red solid line. The variations of
the PSRs are less than 0.4 dB and 0.8 dB, respectively.

3.3 The OPS With w = 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm
Fig. 9 shows the performance characterization of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w =
3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm when the input signal is
emitted from Port in1. The transmission spectra of Port out1 and Port out2 are shown in Fig. 9(a)
when no voltages are applied to the electrodes. The output power of Port out1 varies from 0 dB
to −4.3 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1530.00 nm to 1570.00 nm. And
that of Port out2 varies from −30 dB to −2.9 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies
from 1561.92 nm to 1565.95 nm. The whole insertion loss varies from 0 dB to 1.5 dB when the

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Fig. 10. (a) The measured transmission spectra of OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w = 3.8 μm, 
= 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm when the input signal is emitted from port
in2, (b) the PSR varies with the power consumption of the micro-heaters.

wavelength varies from 1530 nm to 1570 nm and the tunable range of the PSR varies from 27.9
dB to 0.1 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1561.96 nm to 1565.69 nm.
Fig. 9(b) shows the measured PSR varies with the power consumption of the micro-heaters.
The spectrum of the PSR is red-shifted about 3.4 nm while the power consumption of the micro-
heaters increases from 0 to 27 mW. Fig. 9(c) and Fig. 9(d) show the OPSs which are temperature-
sensitive and temperature-insensitive, respectively. The blue dots and the red triangles in Fig. 9(c)
show the PSRs varying with the power consumption when the wavelengths of the input signal
are 1565.28 nm and 1549.52 nm, respectively. The PSRs vary from 2 dB to 37 dB and from 1.1
dB to 21.2 dB while the thermal tuning coefficient of the PSR are 1.30 dB/mW and 0.74 dB/mW,
respectively. The blue dots and the red triangles in Fig. 9(d) show the PSRs varying with the
power consumption when the wavelengths of the input signal are 1543.15 nm and 1557.00 nm,
respectively. And the variations of the PSRs are less than 2.7 dB and 2.9 dB, respectively. The
fitting curves are also shown in Fig. 9(c) and Fig. 9(d) in blue solid line and red solid line.
Similarly, we measure the transmission spectra of the OPS based on WG-Slot-MMI with w =
3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm when the input signal
is emitted from Port in2. Fig. 10(a) shows the transmission spectra of Port out1 and Port out2
when no voltages are applied to the electrodes. The output power of Port out1 varies from 0 dB
to −7.3 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1530.00 nm to 1561.70 nm, and
that of Port out2 varies from −6.3 dB to −16 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies
from 1530.00 nm to 1549.37 nm, respectively. The tunable range of the PSR varies from −5.3 dB
to −10.6 dB when the wavelength of the input signal varies from 1556.57 nm to 1565.29 nm. And
the insertion loss varies from 2 dB to 6 dB when the wavelength is 1545 nm ∼ 1553 nm and 1558
nm ∼ 1566 nm. While the insertion loss only varies from 0 dB to 2 dB in other wavelength ranges.
The ripples of the spectra result from the imperceptible changes of experimental environment,
such as vibration and oscillation of fibers. We also apply different voltages on the electrodes. The
transmission spectra of different power consumptions of the micro-heaters are shown in Fig. 10(b),
and the transmission spectrum is red-shifted about 3.2 nm as the power consumption varies from
0 to 27 mW. The maximum variation of PSR is less than 5 dB when the wavelength of the input
signal is 1563.70 nm and the thermal tuning coefficient of the OPS is 0.19 dB/mW. The minimum
variation of the PSR is 0.6 dB when the wavelength of the input signal is 1548.14 nm.
The performance characterization of our OPSs are shown in Table 1. The type I and II represent
the OPSs with w = 1.4 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.9 μm, ws = 0.68 μm and w
= 3.8 μm,  = 0.3 μm, N = 188, q = 0 μm, ls = 22.5 μm, ws = 0.64 μm, respectively. The “PSR”
and “Wavelength range” in the table show the tunable ranges of the PSR and the corresponding
wavelength range of the input signal when no voltages are applied to the electrodes. The “Max.
tunable range of PSR” and the “Min. tunable range of PSR” in the table show the maximum and
minimum tunable ranges of PSR when the power consumption of the micro-heaters varies from 0

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TABLE 1
Performance Characterization of the Proposed OPSs

TABLE 2
The Comparation of the Proposed OPSs and Our OPS

to 27 mW. And the “Wavelength1” and the “Wavelength2” show the corresponding wavelength of
the input signal. The comparison of the proposed schemes and our scheme (Type II, input port
In1) is shown in Table 2. As shown in the table, our scheme has extreme large tunable range of the
PSR and the PSR can be tuned without changing the physical structure. Our scheme also has the
advantages of easy fabrication, compact size and small insertion loss.

4. Conclusion
In this letter, we have proposed and demonstrated an integrated OPS with continuously adjustable
PSR. By tuning the wavelength of the input signal from 1542.62 nm to 1547.94 nm, the maximum
tunable range of our OPS is from 28.2 dB to −1.7 dB when no voltages are applied to the micro-
heaters on the chip. And our OPS can be both temperature-sensitive and temperature-insensitive.
The maximum and minimum tunable ranges of the PSR are from 2 dB to 37 dB and from −8.7 dB
to −9.1 dB, respectively, when the power consumption of the micro-heaters varies from 0 to 27 mW
and the wavelengths of the input signal are 1565.28 nm and 1562.74 nm, respectively. Our scheme
has the advantages of compact structure and high flexibility, and it can be widely used in optical
switching, signal channel division, power distribution and other fields of communication and signal
processing.

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